Can't believe Murphy is walking out on us!! Wanted to go to the mighty Roos, but because we keep signing players to make the club better he's gonna go to the Dees in the PSD just to spite us!!



FFS

_________________

Well you can be assured that his contract will be signed by October 31st.

_________________
“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Just had a quick break from work and I read this post.

How do you think I felt?

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

That bump on (losthis name...captain...rover...gun...nah can't remember), when he wasn't expecting it was a bit of mogrel.

Cloke caught up with him by persisting to follow the play, but I wouldn't say he closed him down with pace; the victum was unaware of Cloke's presence, and slowed down to find an option.

That was a good team effort.


Cloke takes a really good grab around the ground and forward. Can kick 50m passes, can kick long goals; also kicks a few grubbers, but can kick. Surprisingly, he has also got a good leap when going for mark.

I could go on with all the positives, there are plenty, but his achilles hill is his pace for a player at 195cm. He's not a ruckman, but he is damn competitive. He makes up for any shortfalls with endeavour and strength. His biggest strength, imo, is that he's a footballer (obviously from a football family), and he reads the game bloody well.

I'd like him in the team, but I don't know where I could hide his pace deficiency.

If Setanta was dropped, injured or left, do you think Cloke can fill the role against gorillas? I can, but not the really fast ones that aren't quite gorillas ...I'm talking Alistair Lynch in his late Lions career, Lockett...those types; slower ones.

I just hopr he can improve his pace. There's always a chance for a spot in the 22 for Clokey. It's not as if he struggling to break into the team.

I just think that Hampson through natural progression (and another preseason) will surpass Cloke sometime in the 2nd half of 2009. The question I have is, is it better to have a policy to give Hammer more game time starting round 1; he does have upside. The MC may do that. Similar to backing Russell to play a role.

It's a flip between Hammer and Cloke, imo, and the result will be from the rewards each player gets from a big preseason. May the best man win.

I think Cam and the Cloke clan are rapt in Carlton for giving him another 2 year contract. Carlton have been good to their son. I think they could even stomach that Cloke has to earn a game as much as the next bloke, and can accept that pace is the key in the modern game; and Cam has to keep up.

Well done on earning a 2 year contract Cam.

Listen to Cordy. Ask him alot of questions, and 2009 may be Cam's breakthrough year.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Really pleased about Cam Cloke signing. I think he will be in the ruck a lot in 2009 .
Warnock has only played 21 games , is still very skinny , couldn't get a senior gig with Freo for a fair part of 2008 , and spent time in the WAFL , so I don't think we should expect too much of him next season . I hope RW proves me wrong , but I think Cloke might have to do a hell of a lot more ruck work than most TCers seem to think .

Does anyone know whether Houla , Bentick or Wiggins have signed yet . All 3 would be reasonable pick-ups for some clubs in the PSD !

I see a lot of similarities to when we got Justine Madden back in 1983 - "Harry" was next to useless in his first 2 seasons with us - didnt really start to hit his straps till his third season in 1985 (when he nearly won the Brownlow).

I think Warnock is far more advanced than Madden was at the same age - and he is certainly more athletic.

But I agree we shouldnt expect too much of Warnock in his first year or so.

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

I haven't seen Warnock in the flesh Agro , but on the tapes of him i've watched , he seems very light for his height .
Just wonder whether he will be able to go with the bigger experienced ruckmen at this stage . I thought we were going after a ruckman that would be ready to step straight into the side so we could give Hammer and Kruise time to develop so they wouldn't get knocked around every week .
It appears to me thar RW will also need time before he can match it with the gorillas of the league . So Cam Cloke will have to do the hard yards again in 2009 .

Ruckman dont generally mature till around 23 - so your're right thats why we have the insurance policy of Cloke - as we wait a season or two for Warnock and the 3 or 4 seasons for Hampson and Kreuzer.

Warnock's recruitment is sound list management policy by this club and I fully support it - it also means we can utilize Kreuzer in the Forward line in the interim.

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

I think this the MAIN reason why we chased Warnock and re-signed Cloke.

The question wasn't about getting a ruckman....the question was,
"How do we support Fev up forward?"
get someone who can take a mark and play off the ground
"Who would that be?"
Well we could try and get an O'Keefe type player, but gee Kreuzer could do it blindfolded except we need him in the ruck
"how do we keep Krooze in the forward line, and out of the ruck?"
well we need a ruckman or two...either an experienced gun who can ruck all day? (Does this person exist) or a couple with various attributes, say strong body and good leap.
"Hey we have Hammer and Cloke - one can leap , the other is ok at the body on body stuff, how about them?"
Yes, but you can't rely on just them for an entire season...you would need someone who can be swapped for either....preferably a really tall type if they're not strong in the body"


no...I wonder who that may be...
Media: (because they think it through so well)
"Blues chase Warnock -
Carlton is chasing Warnock to bolster their ruck stocks"

Herald Sun reader:
"gee...we don't have enough young ruckmen on the list, I hope we can get him, apparently he is brilliant and worth $1M per year over 1000 years"

Ratten has quite rightly come out and said "don't expect too much from Warnock in the first year or two.." in other words, they will be cycling between the four of them (Blues and Bullants) and Warnock is by no means a "No 1 ruckmen"


Everyone happy with my view of why we picked up Warnock???

_________________
“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

I agree that Cloke will probably continue to play a fair bit of senior footy in 2009, as much because of his versatility as anything. (At this stage, he's a far better option down forward than Hampson is.)

But I'd be very surprised if Warnock, injury aside, doesn't shoulder the number 1 ruck position for most of the year. He may not be able to match it with the gorillas, but he'd certainly be considerably stronger than either of Hampson or Kreuzer. And the gorillas have to match it with Warnock, when it comes to height/reach and mobility around the ground.

Besides, with the centre circle rule these days, there's nowhere near as much crash-and-bash in the ruck contests as there used to be.

The big thing about Special K is his kicking for goal. 13.1 or something this year, and the 1 was from an impossible angle. He could get the ball half the amount of times as Buddy, and be just as effective.

KROOZ will be a long term key forward, and at 200cm, as mobile as he his, and an accurate shot for goal, will be match up nightmare for the opposition

_________________

Well he had to compete with the big Sandy Lands down there. I think he'll come into Carlton as the number 1 ruckman, no doubt about it.
However I agree that cam will be very valuable particularly against the bulls like Charman when RW might get knocked around a bit. Would love to see Cloke up forward again, round 21 at the Gabba was pretty exciting!

_________________

And seriously - its the first time since 2001 - when we had Allan and Porter (although hardly ever both fit and on the field at the same time) that I have been anywhere near satisfied with our Ruck stocks.

Jesus Christ - we had Merrington and Prendergast as our Ruckman in 2002.

_________________
"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

You make it sound as if thats a bad thing Agro

_________________

Murphy- tomorrow !

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Any chance that impacts on our ability to deal for RoK Synners?

^ Friday!

_________________
We are on our way back...

shudder

did you have to remind me.

What happened - when and why did we suddenly decide that ruckmen weren't necessary?

_________________
Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

The MC and board read TC.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Synbad

Thats great news about Murphys signing announcement tommorrow!!

Will they have a press conference?

Thanks for the info by the way